Gay day in disneyland?

[Darkangel87]

Does anyone know what days it is this year? I am Jw 'cause i know it brings in larger crowds. Also do most people start coming in early or not till the first day of GD? just trying to avoid as much of the crowd as possible for my trip.

 

[MickeyManiac]

This year its 9/30-10/2.

We were there last year during Gay Day's weekend and it did not seem extra busy to me. I wouldn't hesitate to go again on that weekend. They plan their activities for one park per day. I think last year is was Saturday at DL and Sunday a CA. We just planned our park days opposite of their schedule. (only to avoid the crowds). DTD was pretty busy in the evenings though. There is a Gay Days Anaheim website that will list their schedule of events.

I would be a lot more afraid of going during Utahs' fall break. (10/20-21) There is a mass exodus from Utah to Anaheim.

 

[Darkangel87]

I am planning on being in DL september 26, 27, 28. So I wasnt sure if the crowds start coming in early for GD.

 

[Sherry E]

Darkangel87 - Keep in mind that it's going to be crowded anyway, even aside from Gay Days. Gay Days just adds extra people to the mix.

We are thinking - though we don't have confirmation yet - that Mickey's Halloween Party will begin on 9/30 this year. If so, that will automatically bring more people into the parks over that weekend and a couple of days prior to that for people who are doing multi-day trips.

But just the fact that it is HalloweenTime (which begins on 9/16) will bring lots of people into the parks in late September/early October. Each Halloween season for the last few years has gotten progressively busier, usually tapering off a little bit around mid-October (or after Columbus Day) and then picking up again right before Halloween. I think last year was the busiest Halloween season as a whole since HalloweenTime began.

The one time I was at DLR for HalloweenTime during a Gay Days weekend, it was 2008. I noticed that Thursday night was a madhouse in Downtown Disney - it was so busy, it might as well have been a Saturday night. I went into DL that same night to take care of my Annual Pass business and it looked to be extremely crowded in the park too. I didn't check DCA.

However, when my friend and I went into the parks the next day - Friday - it was pretty reasonable all day. It did not seem terribly crowded at all until the Halloween party later that night, which was very busy.

Then on Saturday, the morning and early afternoon were pretty pleasant too - and we really did not notice any huge increase in crowds until Saturday evening. Then it got CRAZY all of a sudden! Like out of nowhere, all kinds of people emerged at dusk!

The following day - Sunday - was Miley Cyrus' birthday party in DL, so the crowds picked way up for that. But if it had not been her party weekend, I wondered if it would have been as crowded in the daytime, because, really, Friday and Saturday in the morning/afternoon did not seem bad at all.

So, I can't really say what the crowd level will be for Gay Days 2011 since my experience on that one GD weekend was 3 years ago and a lot can change in 3 years, but just based on the overall popularity of HalloweenTime and the increase in attendance for the whole season, I think it will be busy anyway. Some folks said last year that it got too busy for them to want to go back in October, but I guess some people didn't think it was that bad.

 

[Sherry E]

Okay, since you'll be there in the days prior to Gay Days, you may or may not run into Gay Days crowds arriving early, but you will probably run into extra people showing up early for the Halloween party, if they have planned multi-day trips.

September is still probably less crowded than October so you will have that advantage, but I wouldn't be shocked if you encountered some early arrivers.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I was there during Gay Day's weekend last year and I thought it was just above average crowd level at DL last year. The only time that it looked so crowded at DL was during MHP night when the regular guests and the MHP guests were in DL at the same time and all the rides wait times were so long. But when the regular guests were asked to leave the park that night, the crowd level dropped a lot. With the Halloween season starting early in mid September and the first MHP that week, the crowd level will be above average. On TP, it is on an average of 5.5/10 for the weekend with Friday being the lowest crowds. TP is not accurate, but it does give you an idea of what the crowd levels should be during those days.

 

[SleepingBeautyBride]

It really isnt that bad in Septemeber as it is. So Gay Day really doesnt have too much of an impact. it might take it from ok to mildly crowded but like a PP said just plan your days around them since they are a one park one day type. And they usually dont come around too early. I would say you really dont have anythign to worry about as it is.

 

[Mama Who]

Our honeymoon coincided with Gay Days. We did not find the park any more crowded but there was a really nice, friendly, happy vibe that was an extra bonus. We look forward to an anniversary trip some year and will absolutely make sure it covers at least one day of GD.